Hamby, Leech Still Hot Streaks Extended In Miller Benefit

Hamby, the top female angler in last week`s Pompano Beach Fishing Rodeo, was aboard the top boat Saturday. Hamby, of Pompano Beach, fished with Tim Leo and Ed Weisenberger on Leo`s Bounty Hunter. She caught a 25-pound, 12-ounce dolphin and Leo caught a 29 1/2-pound kingfish for a total weight of 55-4.

Leech, of Fort Lauderdale, finished second aboard his boat, Meant To Be, fishing with his son, Eric, and Pat Ross. They had a 17-pound kingfish and a 27-pound dolphin. Leech won the Greater Miami Billfish Tournament last month and the Triple Crown.

Tim Harris, Deona Holmes and Diane Poirier were third on Southern Star with a 23-pound, 5-ounce tuna and an 18-pound kingfish.

Anglers were allowed to weigh in one dolphin, one tuna, one wahoo and one kingfish, each a minimum of 10 pounds (no eligible wahoo were weighed). Winners were announced Sunday afternoon at an awards ceremony at Bootlegger restaurant.

A total of 225 anglers on 57 boats competed in the second annual tournament. Proceeds go to defray the medical expenses of 5-year-old Billy Miller of Pompano Beach, who has a rare eye cancer.

Leo made all the right moves from the start. First he loaded up on live bait. Then, instead of running south as most of the boats did, he ran north, to Delray Beach, where he found clean water at 120 feet. Before fishing started at 7 a.m., he and his mates chummed with pilchards and goggle-eyes.

``We had the kingfish skyrocketing all around the boat,`` Leo said. ``I looked at my watch, it was 7 o`clock, and I said, `OK boys and girls, let`s rock `n` roll!` We started putting baits out there and boom! We were hooked up.``

They caught several 10- to 12-pound kingfish, then Weisenberger saw a big king by a kite bait. Leo wound the line tight, set the hook and soon landed the 29 1/2-pounder.

Hamby, who had the heaviest wahoo in the Rodeo at 66.4 pounds, then caught her big dolphin on a balloon line. Leo caught a 24-pound dolphin on a kite bait, and the trio also went 3 for 3 on sailfish. They caught all their fish by noon.

Leech also had a sound strategy. He started live-baiting off Haulover Inlet in North Miami for kingfish and caught a few kings 10 to 11 pounds. Then he moved out to 800 feet, where Eric caught the 27-pound dolphin. After that, Leech moved back in to try for a bigger kingfish, and they got the 17-pounder.